Basil went with the search team and went around the house revealing all the telltale signs of a hidden safe. There were several hidden throughout the mansion and with a few looks at the logbooks, he gave them every code he could. He had the servants detained and opened every hidden door and passageway with burning red eyes. The knights who had gone with him reported back that it was a bit like working with a less frightening, though far more angry, version of Adolph. Adolph wasn’t surprised that Basil was taking the lead in the investigation. It was probably a deeper wound than he realized yet to know that his family members had been stabbing him in the back all these years. After all, Basil was a Mirabelle, but above that, he was the heir to the throne. Every act of treachery could have jeopardized that. “Will he be okay?” Raven asked over lunch. Laurel grimaced and swirled her tea as Adolph shook his head, “I can only let him prove what he needs to within reason… But no. I don’t

A few days after the executions, there was a minor lull in the torrent of things that needed to be done. Laurel threw up her hands and started stripping just after breakfast. Adolph chuckled, heading into the bathroom ahead of her to run her a cold bath as she struggled out of her gown. “I told you to just wear the simple gowns.”“But it’s not queenly!” Laurel huffed and growled. “Stupid ribbons!”Adolph left the bath to run and returned to save his young wife from her queenly gowns. “I’m so young barely anyone takes me seriously even now.”Adolph shook his head and caught her hands before she ripped the ribbons. He kissed her pouting lips and began to work the ribbons free. “You caught a treasonous noble and made it possible to clean up the kingdom in one fail swoop. Plenty of people take you seriously,” Adolph soothed, undoing the knots and pulling her dress apart. “I certainly take you seriously.”Laurel flushed and worried her lip, stroking a hand over his chest and he licked

Laurel woke up, frozen in terror in bed. The last time she’d had a vision of the moon goddess, she’d been pushed off a cliff. She wasn’t sure if hearing that her husband’s late wife put a curse on him was better or worse. How bad was the curse now? How much longer did they have? Could she break it? If she couldn’t, what would happen to him?Her stomach turned as she turned over to see Adolph sleeping peacefully beside her. The days of his insomnia seemed to have caught up with him all at once. The strain of the days seemed to be gone now as he slept.His scent was just as bloody and lovely as ever, but that blood that she had once found just a bit sexy seemed tainted with danger now. It wasn’t just the scent of someone who had seen a great deal of war, but it was affecting his mind. An alpha werewolf like Adolph could be dangerous if they lost control of their strength. She knew that Adolph was much stronger than the average wolf. Was it anything like going rogue? Would it kill him?

Basil had tried to keep his mind focused on the path ahead the next morning, no matter how Nimue’s scent had seemed to take over his senses and make him dizzy with need and desire. She smelled like fresh blooming flowers, fresh earth, and a hint of fresh sweet bread. It was a distracting, comforting, and maddening scent. His wolf growled in contentment and want whenever she grew near, so he took to riding further ahead to try and keep his mind clear. *I hate you*, his wolf huffed and growled. *You and your stupid pride and fear and…**Not now*, Basil thought, stubbornly. *Focus on getting back to the capital, okay?*He huffed, *And your need for distraction instead of facing the truth…*Basil sighed, tuning out his wolf’s whining. This wasn’t the time for thinking about such things. Adolph and Laurel were supposed to be staying at the temple until the baby was born. There was no reason they should have called him back unless the baby was early or something had happened to his father

Laurel didn’t expect Basil to come quickly, so when the door closed, she was grateful that Nimue made herself a cup of tea and smiled at her. “You were once someone else,” Nimue said. “I am glad that the moon saw fit to bring the white wolf back to us.”Laurel blinked and sat across from her, “You’re… not much like Eden.”Nimue chuckled, “Eden and I have different gifts… He is what we would call an elemental Wiccan. Lightning strikes, fire, flashy shows of power that most associate with real magic. I’m a spiritual mage.”Laurel blinked and made herself a cup of tea, “What… does that mean?”“It means I have a connection to the living and the dead. Hence, I know the body you’re in right now is one you were reborn into. I can only guess how you died, but I assume that Basil knew you in your past life.”Laurel winced, “This… isn’t how I expected this conversation to go.”Nimue shrugged, “You make plans and the spirits laugh, but I’m not concerned about your aura. It’s more than healthy a